[Sidenote: Oats.] And in Marche is tyme to sowe otes, and specially vpon lyght grounde & drie, howe-be-it they wylle grow on weter grounde than any corne els: for wete grounde is good for no maner of corne; and thre London bushels 4 wyl sowe an acre.
[Sidenote: [Fol. 12.]] And it is to be knowen, that there be .iii. maner of otes, [Sidenote: Red oats.] that is to saye, redde otes, blacke otes, and roughe otes. Red otes are the beste otes, and whan they be thresshed, 8 they be yelowe in the busshell, and verye good to make [Sidenote: Black oats.] otemele of. Blacke otes are as great as they be, but they haue not so moche floure in them, for they haue a thycker huske, and also they be not so good to make otemele. 12 [Sidenote: Rough oats.] The roughe otes be the worste, and it quiteth not the coste to sowe them: they be very lyghte, and haue longe tayles, wherby they wyll hange eche one to other. All these maner of otes weare the grounde very sore, and 16 [Sidenote: Observe how thick to sow.] maketh it to beare quyche. A yonge housbande ought to take hede, howe thycke he sowethe all maner of corne, two or three yeres: and to se, howe it cometh vp, and whether it be thycke ynoughe or not: and if it be thynne, 20 sowe thycker the nexte yere: and if it be well, holde his hande there other yeres: and if it be to thynne, let hym remember hym selfe, whether it be for the vnseasonablenes of the wether, or for thyn sowynge. And so 24 his wysedome and discretion muste discerne it.
[Sidenote: [Fol. 12_b_.]] Nowe these landes be plowed, and the corne sowen, it [Sidenote: Harrowing.] is conuenient, that they be well harowed; or els crowes, doues, and other byrdes wyll eate and beare awaye the cornes. It is vsed in many countreys, the husbandes to 4 [Sidenote: The ox-harrow.] haue an oxe-harowe, the whiche is made of sixe smal [Sidenote: Harrow-bulls.] peces of timbre, called harowe-bulles, made eyther of asshe or oke; they be two yardes longe, and as moche as the small of a mannes legge, and haue shotes[23] of wode 8 put through theym lyke lathes, and in euery bull are syxe sharpe peces of yren called harowe-tyndes, set some-what a-slope forwarde, and the formes[t] slote[24] must be bygger than the other, bycause the fote-teame shall be fastened 12 to the same with a shakyll, or a withe to drawe by. This [Sidenote: The horse-harrow.] harrowe is good to breake the greatte clottes, and to make moche molde, and than the horse-harowes to come after, to make the clottes smaller, and to laye the grounde euen. 16 It is a greate labour and payne to the oxen, to goo to [Sidenote: ‘The ox is never woe, Till he to the harrow go.’] harowe: for they were better to goo to the plowe two dayes, thanne to harowe one daye. It is an olde saying, ‘The oxe is neuer wo, tyll he to the harowe goo.’ And 20 it is bycause it goeth by twytches, and not alwaye [Sidenote: [Fol. 13.]] after one draughte. The horse-harrowe is made of fyue bulles, and passe not an elne of lengthe, and not soo moche as the other, but they be lyke sloted and tinded. 24 And wha_n_ the corne is well couered, than it is harowed ynough. There be horse-harowes, that have tyndes of wodde: and those be vsed moche about Ryppon, and [Sidenote: Boulder-stones.] suche other places, where be many bulder-stones. For 28 these stones wold weare the yren to soone, and those [Sidenote: Tines of the harrow made of ash.] tyndes be mooste commonly made of the grounde ende of a yonge asshe, and they be more thanne a fote longe in the begynnynge, and stande as moche aboue the harowe 32 as benethe.